


Hiding in Plain Sight

by Naturalsneak



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Human, Alternate Universe - No Hale Fire, Angst with a Happy Ending, Deputy Derek Hale, Famous Stiles Stilinski, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Mentioned Kate Argent, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-14
Updated: 2018-06-14
Packaged: 2019-05-23 08:15:34
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14930559
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Naturalsneak/pseuds/Naturalsneak
Summary: In a world where half the population keeps their soul marks covered, it wasn’t uncommon for non-soul mates to date and even marry. The majority of the general population left their mark uncovered, but anyone who was in the public eye kept them covered.





	Hiding in Plain Sight

**Author's Note:**

> So I wanted to write something where Derek and Stiles had matching soul marks, but I wanted Stiles to be the famous one. I'm not sure how well this turned out, as it took me forever to finish writing, then it seemed like I didn't want to type it up.
> 
> Hopefully you enjoy this!

Derek never thought he would find his mark match. After his ex was caught with a gas can and lighter in the forest behind his family home, he swore off dating. Instead he focused on his future, and what he was going to do with the rest of his life. Since that day, he decided he was going to be a cop, and help people the way he was helped. He went through the academy and was fortunate to get a position with the Sheriffs office in his home town. Being the rookie deputy, he was given the shifts no one really wanted; they usually ended up being the late afternoon and overnight shift, those he preferred anyway. This shift, he was working with the Sheriff, and Derek made sure he got to the station early. Pulling into the lot, he noticed a baby blue jeep parked there that he knew was the Sheriffs sons’ vehicle. Walking into the building he noticed the door to the Sheriffs office closed. Taking a seat at his desk, he caught Parrish’s attention.

 

“What’s happening with the boss?” he asked nodding towards the office.

 

 “Uh,” Parrish looked up and blinked owlishly. “Stiles came barging in here, something about talking to his dad before he saw the news. Didn’t really catch everything he said, you know how he is.”

 

 Derek hummed in response and took in Jordan’s appearance. His shoulders were drooping with fatigue, and it looked like he was about to fall asleep at his desk.

 

 “You know, if you ever need a nap, come on over. Just tell Laura we are bonding.”

 

 Jordan looked up in surprise and gave Derek a grateful smile. Before he could reply, the Sheriffs door opened and out came the Sheriff and Stiles.

 

“No, dad. I told you. I’m not pressing charges. I just want this whole thing to go away.” Stiles said as he walked out of the office.

 

“OK,” the sheriff ran a hand through his hair. “I’m here if you change your mind though.”

 

Spotting Derek across the room, Stiles broke into a smile and made a beeline to the chair next to his desk. He heaved out a sigh as he sat down, and Derek turned to look at him.

 

“Family emergency?”

 

“Nope,” he said, popping the ‘p’ and sounding very tired. “Personal.”

 

Derek took a good look at Stiles and was immediately concerned. While he normally didn’t dress very fancy, he was only clad in baggy sweats and it looked like he hadn’t slept in a few days.

 

“I just came to let dad know what happened before someone else told him.” Stiles said and laid his head on the edge of Derek’s desk.

 

“What did happen?” Derek tried not to sound to curious.

 

Stiles looked up at Derek and didn’t say anything for a few minutes. He let out a small chuckle and ran a hand through his hair.

 

“Still not on the up and up with social media, hey Derek?”

 

Derek just glared back at Stiles. “You are one of twenty people I have on my Facebook thing, one that you bullied me into getting. You know how much I hate it.”

 

Stiles snorted and pulled his phone out. Turning back to his desk, Derek pulled one of the case files on his desk towards him. He was starting to get behind on his paperwork, and he knew that the Sheriff would put him on desk duty if it wasn’t finished soon. He tried to focus on his paperwork, but he was still very much aware that Stiles was still sitting at his desk. Signing off on the report he had written, he went to close the file only to have Stiles shove his phone in his face. Pulling back a bit, he looked at what was on the screen.

 

“What is that?” he asked, tilting his head and squinting at the screen.

 

“The reason I’m back in Beacon Hills.”

 

“Ok, but what is it exactly?” Derek asked slowly, almost recognizing the image.

 

“Its my soul mark.” Stiles said quietly. “Sorry it’s a crappy picture.”

 

“Is that a feather?” Derek asked with trepidation. “On your ass?!”

 

“Uh, yeah.” Stiles sat up and scratched the back of his head. “A peacock feather, to be exact.”

 

Derek looked at the phone until the screen went dark. Handing it back to Stiles, he slowly looked up at him.

 

“My agent suggested getting out of the public eye for a bit, let the whole thing die down. I only agreed with her because she suggested I come home.”

 

“I’m still not understanding how someone got a picture of your mark if its on your ass. And why you have said picture.”

 

“Oh my god. Derek, I know you know what amateur porn is.” Stiles burst out, then continued softer. “It wasn’t intentional, I let someone convince me that it was worth it, but when we broke up, he took it badly and released the tape to the media.”

 

“I’m sorry.” Derek said softly.

 

Stiles shrugged. “You aren’t the one that chose to be with someone that would do that.”

 

Derek looked around the squad room to see if there were any other officers around. When he didn’t see any, he moved closer to Stiles, and took him by the shoulders.

 

“Its ok to be angry Stiles. It doesn’t make you a bad person. Just because you are an actor doesn’t give the public permission to know every little detail about you.” Derek said. “I’m sorry that you had to deal with a petty person.”

 

“Thanks, Der,” Stiles said with a small smile as he got up. “I’m gonna go, I need to try and get some sleep.”

 

Derek watched as Stiles strode out of the building, pulling his hat down as he walked. Heaving out a sigh, Derek turned back to his desk, only to realize that Parrish hadn’t left yet. Dropping into the chair Stiles had just vacated, he looked at Derek with a knowing smirk.

 

“Never thought you’d see him again, did you?” he asked.

 

‘’You and I both know that as soon as he can get his dad to retire, he will have no reason to come back here. He clearly doesn’t like it here, as he left as soon as he could.” Derek said flatly.

 

Jordan nodded and opened his mouth, but before he could say anything, he was interrupted by the Sheriff coming out of his office.

 

“Deputy Hale, can I see you in my office?”

 

Derek swallowed hard and stood up. Jordan stood up behind him, patted him on the shoulder and quickly left the building. Taking a quick gulp of his now cold coffee, he followed the Sheriff into his office. He could see files on the desk and noticed his name on the top one. Gesturing for Derek to sit down, he picked up Derek’s file and skimmed through it. Looking over the reading glasses on his nose, he regarded Derek with an unreadable expression.

 

“I know its been a while since I had the pleasure of seeing my sons mark, considering where it is. But even though I knew what it was, I had a niggling feeling that I had seen it much more recently. And not on his body.” The sheriff pulled a picture out of the file. “I have to say, yours is much harder to hide.”

 

Derek stiffened with his eyes glued to the picture he was holding out. He opened and closed his mouth a few times, unsure of what to say.

 

“Look, I’m not going to tell him. That’s not my place.” The picture was removed from Derek’s sight, and he looked up at the Sheriff again. “However, I do think you should at least talk to him. I know my son, and he’s a little oblivious to the people that are flirting with him.”

 

“Uh, flirting? I don’t-.” Derek started to say.

 

“Derek, I see you all the time. I might not be well versed in how to read you, but I do know when you have feelings for someone.” Sheriff interrupted. “Look, I may be overstepping my boundaries here, but you can’t keep blaming yourself for something that happened years ago. You deserve to be happy too.”

 

Derek could only nod towards the Sheriff, his throat had closed. Standing, the Sheriff came around the desk and squeezed Derek’s shoulder. Derek stood up and headed towards the door but paused before he left.

 

“Sir?” he turned back to look at him. “Is there any chance I could come and talk with you? Not about work, but other things?”

 

“My door is always open, and Derek, please call me John.” The sheriff said and gave him a smile.

 

Derek could only nod back and left the sheriffs office. By passing his desk, he headed into the small kitchen they called a staff room to make himself a new cup of coffee. He knew it was going to be a long night.

 

**

 

Weeks went by, and while the attention died down around the reveal of Stiles soul mark, it was constantly on Derek’s mind. Stiles didn’t help matters, as he seemed to be every where Derek was. He managed to con the Sheriff into letting him work around the office, and so he was always there, in Derek’s space. Even with Stiles around him, Derek had been able to talk to John a couple times while they were out on patrol. While he had come to terms with his mark match, Derek still wasn’t quite ready to tell Stiles that they were matched. The day that Derek ran into Stiles as he left the gym, he started wearing a patch to cover his mark, just to make sure it was always covered.

 

**

 

Months after Stiles had come back to Beacon Hills, Derek had come to the realization that he wasn’t leaving anytime soon. It was a beautiful morning, and he was sitting out on his back-deck drinking coffee. He was enjoying the weather, since he knew his mother would have him running back and forth during the annual Hale barbecue.  Leaning back in his chair, he allowed himself another twenty minutes to soak up the sun before he had to get ready. Sitting in just a pair of ratty sweatpants, he ran his hand down his chest and across his hips, feeling how his mark was doing. Due to an off brand of patches he had purchased, he was now dealing with a rash from the adhesive. He set his empty cup on the ground beside his chair and closed his eyes. He heard a car door slam, and he let out a sigh. He didn’t want to deal with Laura this early and argue about the same things.

 

“Laura, I’m tired of arguing, can you just drop it already?” Derek called out as he heard foot steps come around into his back yard.

 

“Uh, not Laura dude.” A distinctly male voice said.

 

Derek’s eyes flew open to find Stiles standing on the grass in front of his, eyes glued to Derek’s soul mark. Derek swore softly and ran a hand through his hair as he watched the different emotions flicker across Stiles’ face.

 

“Were you ever going to say anything?” Stiles asked quietly.

 

“No,” Derek admitted after a few moments and stood up. “Come on, I’ve got more coffee inside.”

 

Standing, Derek walked inside and left the door open. He pulled a mug out of the cupboard for Stiles and left it on the counter beside the coffee maker.

 

“Sugars in the bowl on the table, and there’s cream and milk in the fridge. Spoons are in the top drawer here.” Derek gestured to the set of drawers by the sink. “Make yourself comfortable, I’ll be right back out.”

 

Derek walked up the stairs to his bedroom, and just stood in the doorway listening to Stiles move about his kitchen for a minute. Scrubbing a hand across his face, he sighed. He dressed quickly, he popped into the bathroom to make sure his hair wasn’t sticking up and to rub some cream into his mark. Finding no other reason to avoid this conversation, he left the bathroom and walked back downstairs.  Walking back into the kitchen, he fixed himself another cup of coffee, feeling Stiles’ gaze on him the entire time. He sat at the kitchen table across from Stiles and thought about what he was going to say. He watched Stiles play with his mug, and when he thunked it down and made to leave Derek finally spoke up.

 

“I’ve know about your mark for a while. Since before you showed me a few months ago.” He said quietly.

 

That statement seemed to make Stiles freeze, and he fell back into the chair. He stared at Derek, willing him to explain.

 

“You were in the changeroom, showering after lacrosse tryouts. You had gotten dumped in the mud and were scrubbing it off. Somehow it ended up down your pants. I still don’t know how that happened.”

 

Stiles stared at Derek, mouth slightly open. Derek took a long sip of coffee before he continued.

 

“I didn’t know how to approach you. I don’t even know if you would have believed me.” Derek admitted.

 

“So that’s why Cora made me eat lunch with you guys. And pairing up on class projects with me.” Stiles said with a smirk. “You always looked so angry at lunch when I started sitting there.”

 

Derek nodded and ducked his head, but Stiles could see the tips of his ears turning red.

 

“My sisters can be vicious sometimes, but they love me. She was only trying to help me talk to you. I wanted to ask you out, but you came in so excited one day, saying you had a date.” He sighed. “I was jealous. I thought we had gotten closer.”

 

Derek fell silent, and when he continued, he looked ashamed.  Stiles felt a wave of sympathy rise in him as Derek spoke.

 

“I can’t even look back and not feel like I should have known what she was going to do to my family.” He said bitterly.

 

Stiles reached across the table and took Derek’s hand in his. He looked at him and spoke earnestly.

 

“You had no way of knowing what she was going to do. What happened wasn’t your fault. You were a victim in all of that too.”

 

Derek nodded slowly, not trusting his voice just yet. He pulled his hand from under Stiles’ and stood up. He set his mug in the sink, then turned around and leaned against the counter, looking at Stiles.

 

“I missed a lot of school because my therapist didn’t think I was ready to go back and face those memories. I was homeschooled for a bit, but the school board decided to hold me back to get all my required classes in.” Derek huffed out a laugh. “I missed you when I was gone. I really enjoyed our lunches together. I may have decided to stay an extra year just to have your company.  I had plans for after graduation.”

 

Stiles stiffened at the mention of graduation. Derek looked tired, and drained.

 

“But I wasn’t even at grad.” Stiles said softly.

 

“I was angry for a long time.” Derek said. “Not at you! Angry at myself mostly. Angry that I wasted my time waiting to ask you on a date.”

 

Derek walked back over to the table and slumped in a chair. Stiles had a look of wonder on his face.

 

“I had no idea you even liked me. I always thought you couldn’t stand my hyperactive ass.” Stiles said faintly.

 

Derek heaved a sigh of relief of finally telling Stiles how he felt. They sat in silence for some time, both lost in their own thoughts.

 

“So, um- This is going to sounds really asshole-ish,” Stiles started. “But who else knows about the matching marks?”

 

Derek gave Stiles a flat look.

 

“As far as anyone is concerned, it is a tattoo. Your father is the only person outside of my family who knows its my mark. So you can go back to Hollywood, and no one will know your mark matches a cop in a small town.” Derek said bitterly.

 

Stiles began to stutter indignantly back, until he realized it wasn’t helping. He stood up, defeat all over his face.

 

“That wasn’t why I asked Derek. You don’t need to be a self-sacrificing asshole.” Stiles snapped. “Maybe listen to what people have to say before you put words in their mouths or make up their minds for them.”

 

Walking over to Derek, Stiles stood in front of him and gripped his chin gently to tilt his head up to look at him straight on.

 

“You might be surprised at how other people feel.” Stiles said softly, eyes flicking between Derek’s eyes and mouth. “I’d like to kiss you, if you’ll let me.”

 

Stiles could see the indecision on Derek’s face, and after a minute Stiles let go of Derek and went to step away. He turned but was stopped by a hand on his wrist. He could feel a gentle pulling on his wrist, so he stopped resisting, and was pulled back onto Derek’s lap. Wiggling around, he perched on Derek’s lap facing him.

 

“I would like it very much if you kissed me.” Derek said, his voice gravelly.

 

Stiles leaned in slowly, not wanting to rush something he had been wanting for a long time. His hand rested on Derek’s chest, and he felt Derek’s hands on his hips holding him in place. Their lips touched in a chaste kiss, but it wasn’t long before Derek let out an almost sub-vocal growl and deepened the kiss. Stiles let his hands roam over Derek’s chest, ad he could feel his fingers tightening on his hips. Stiles broke the kiss with a gasp and rested his forehead against Derek’s.

 

“You know, I liked you before I knew our marks matched.” Derek said quietly. “You stood up for Cora at the park one day, even though you didn’t have to. And when you offered her your friendship, I knew you were special.”

 

Stiles let out a laugh and sat up looking fondly at Derek.

 

“Full disclosure, I’ve had a thing for you for years. I thought I had gotten over it, but your sisters really are vicious. Both sent me a picture of you in your uniform when you got hired at the station. One look and I was hooked again.”

 

Derek looked at Stiles, his face soft and open. Stiles grinned back at Derek and stuck his tongue out at him.

 

“Well, stick around and you’ll get to see me in it in person. You might even get to take it off me.” Derek said, smirking up at Stiles.

 

“Oh, believe me, I plan on it.” Stiles said and leaned into kiss Derek again.

 

**

 

3 Years later

 

_“Spotted out and about in Hollywood”_

_Stiles Stilinski was spotted dining with a mystery male, sporting a shiny new ring on his left hand. When asked about the ring, Stiles said ‘He’s my sourwolf, and I’m lucky to have found him. He didn’t make it easy, you know, he was hiding in plain sight.’_

_Whoever he is, the pair do make a very cute couple._

End

 


End file.
